Taking Sides
by majormiryti
Summary: Your name is Gabriel. You're an archangel who's fed up with all the fighting in your family, so you're running away, running far, far away - but your baby brother's caught you in the act.
1. Heaven

"Gabe?"

No. Not now. Any time but now. "Hey, Cas."

"What're you doing out here? Are you going somewhere?" He rubs his eyes sleepily. He's still so young, and he trusts you so much. It hurts to do something like this to him, but you don't have a choice.

"...Yeah," you sigh. "Yeah, I am. Just for a little while, I won't be gone long. Go back inside, Cas."

"Where're you going?"

"Just down to Earth. Gonna go hang out with some humans for a bit."

His nose wrinkles as he tilts his head. "Humans? But Raphael says - "

"Don't _ever_ believe what Raphael says, especially about humans." Pause. "He's wrong about a lot of things."

"Can I come with you?"

"Not this time, Cas."

"But last time you let me!"

"It's different now."

"But _why_?"

"It's too dangerous where I'm going. There'll be monsters and demons and demigods - really scary stuff."

He tries to puff himself up, making his little black wings flutter a bit. "I can handle them! They don't scare me!"

You grin at him. "Hate to say this, but you're too young, Cas. Your wings still have fluff on 'em."

He frowns. "Not_ that_ much fluff..."

"You wouldn't want to come anyway. Remember last time, how boring you thought it was?"

"Yeah, but..." He shifts awkwardly, avoiding eye contact.

"But what?" You sit down and motion for Cas to sit next to you. He does so and leans against your side, so you put your arm and a wing around him protectively.

"None of the others like me, I think. Uriel and Zachariah definitely don't. They tease me all the time. And Raphael lets them. One time they were trying to pull on my feathers - the new long ones, too - and Raphael just walked on by. He didn't make them stop or anything."

"Did you tell Michael?"

He shakes his head. "He's never around. Always busy doing stuff for Dad."

"What about Anna?"

"She doesn't like to get involved, remember?"

You shrug. "I don't know what to tell you, Cas. If it makes you feel better, though, they don't like me either."

"I know." He hugs his knees to his chest. "I hear Raphael talking about you a lot. He thinks it's your fault Lucifer left because you didn't side with him and Michael."

"I didn't side with _anyone_; I stayed out of it."

"That's what I told him, but he said that because you didn't go with them that you were basically on Lucifer's side. He told me I didn't know what I was talking about."

"Hey, he tells me that, too. Looks like we're in the same boat."

You both laugh half-heartedly, then Cas looks up at you, his blue eyes wide. "Please don't leave, Gabe. You're the only one in this entire family who actually likes me."

"I have to go, Cas. I can't stay here, not with all the fighting going on."

"Was it bad today?"

"Bad enough for Michael and Raphael to actually start throwing things at each other's heads instead of just yelling."

"Oh."

"And it's just going to get worse and worse, until it turns into a full-blown apocalypse." You stand up and turn towards the gates leading down to Earth. "That's why I have to leave - I can't watch my brothers tear the family apart any more."

Cas tries to stop you by grabbing onto your hand. "But you _can't_ leave! You're my only friend! What'll I do?"

You kneel down and look him in the eye. "Listen to me, Castiel. I _have_ to go - there's no other option for me. And you can't follow me, either. It'll be too dangerous if both of us turn up missing tomorrow."

"You could try and help...you could stop them from fighting."

You shake your head. "They won't listen to me. They won't listen to anyone. I can't deal with them any longer."

He nods as tears start rolling down his cheeks. "I understand."

"Hey, look - they still need you up here, okay, buddy? You remember that fish we saw, a long time ago?"

He nods again, wiping his eyes. "The one on the beach you told me not to step on."

"That's the one. And you know what?" You smile. "I heard there's even bigger plans for you than there were for that fish. I heard that one day, you might even save the world."

Cas smiles weakly, but his expression quickly turns worried again. "But what about Uriel and Zachariah? What if they start picking on me again?"

"Hm." You think for a moment. "You know Balthazar, right?"

"Yeah."

"Okay. As soon as I'm gone, you go straight to him and tell him what happened, why I left, everything. He can keep a secret, and he'll look out for you. No one will mess with you when he's around. All right?"

He sniffles, but nods. "I'm gonna miss you, Gabe."

"I'll miss you too, Cas. Hopefully I can come back soon, but if not...well, you come and find me when you're older, okay?"

"Where're you gonna be?"

You grin again. "I don't know yet. Maybe I'll try being a trickster for a bit. Who knows?"

He nods again. "I'll find you."

"Good." The two of you hug for a good while, but finally you decide it's time to go. "See you soon, okay?"

"Okay."

Just before you take off, you turn and give your little brother one last wave goodbye. "It'll be all right, Cas. Everything's gonna be all right."

"Bye, Gabe."

"Bye, Cas."


	2. Ohio

Those Winchester brothers are smarter than you gave them credit for. They figured out your game - that you were an angel - all by themselves, no thanks to their own angel.

Who, by the way, happens to be your little brother Castiel.

The Winchester boys are long gone, but they left you in an abandoned warehouse, surrounded by a ring of holy fire. Well, technically they put it out before they left, but Castiel stayed behind and re-lit it, trapping you once again.

The look on his face when he sees you is one of rage and fury - pure, unadulterated hatred. His black wings are bowed up, tense, bristling with anger; his fists clench and unclench as he stares at you.

"Hey, Cas." Is that the best you can do? Weak.

"One thousand years, Gabriel. You've been gone for a thousand years, and the first thing you say to me is 'hey, Cas'."

"I'm sorry, Castiel, I - "

"For what? For abandoning your family when we most needed you? For leaving me to whatever torments Raphael and his cohorts could come up with? For never even _considering_ coming back? What exactly are you sorry for?"

You're at a loss for words. You don't even know where to start. "For...for everything. I'm so sorry, I never meant for any of this to happen."

Castiel's nostrils flare. "Do you even _know_ what's happened since you left? Let me summarize for you:

"Anna fell. Uriel and countless others have been killed this year alone. We have a new brother - "

"Another angel?" Meant to replace you, probably. "Whose side is he on?

"His name is Samandriel, and I've had to fight Raphael every day to keep him in my training and out of their indoctrination.

"And those two boys? The ones you were just torturing in your little television shows? Those were the Winchesters - yes, those Winchesters - and they've kickstarted the Apocalypse."

"I know, I know, and Michael's on a rampage and Lucifer's out of the pit. I'm not completely out of the loop."

"The Horsemen are out, Gabriel."

You whistle. "It's that serious?"

"It's that serious. And the Winchesters and I have to find a way to stop it."

"Stop it?" Why would Cas think he could stop the Apocalypse? "It's already been prophesied, written down; this thing's been in the works since the beginning of time! You can't change it!"

"We _can_ change it - and we _will_ change it. The Winchesters know how, and I'm going to help them."

"So you're rebelling against Dad, too?" You shake your head in disbelief. "You're just like Lucifer."

Castiel storms towards you. "I am _nothing_ like Lucifer. He's the one causing all the trouble out there; I'm trying to stop it!"

"Then you're with Michael."

"No." He takes a few steps to your left, and you turn to keep watching him. "I'm not with any of the family on this. You taught me well enough to avoid that at all costs."

You smirk. "Well, at least you remember something."

"But I _have_ chosen a side. Not Michael's, not Lucifer's - I'm on humanity's side. I'll do whatever it takes to keep them from being wiped out."

"Listen to me, Castiel." You step as close to the ring of fire as you dare. "_Don't_ get involved in family conflicts. Stay away, stay as far away as you can! These things only end when someone's dead, trust me."

He shakes his head. "I _can't_ stay out of this." He walks towards the warehouse door. "I can't just sit back and watch the end of the world like it means nothing to me. Humanity doesn't deserve to be snuffed out this way."

"But Cas - "

He stands in the doorway and turns back to look at you, one hand on the fire alarm lever. "You can't just sit on the sidelines forever, Gabriel. Eventually you'll have to choose - are you with Michael? Lucifer?

"Or are you with us?"

He pulls the lever as he walks out. Water rains down from the overhead sprinklers and puts out the fire around you. You're free to go.


	3. Indiana

You should have seen this coming.

After all, Lucifer's the one who taught you all your tricks. Why wouldn't he have guessed you would try to kill him?

You'd thought about what Castiel said at the warehouse, about choosing sides, and you thought about it extensively. You decided that both of your archangel brothers were wrong - that the world and the humans in it deserved to stick around a little longer.

You chose humanity, you finally _took a side_, and look where that got you. Stabbed in the gut with your own angel blade by your own brother.

You stare up at him, shocked, hurt, betrayed, but not even a ghost of remorse flickers across Lucifer's scarred face. He lets go of you as your vision begins to go bright white, leaving you to fall and die on the floor alone.

The last words you manage to whisper as everything fades out are "I'm so sorry, Cas."

And just before you're gone, you swear you hear him answer: "It's all right, Gabe. Everything's all right."


End file.
